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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Tomato Chickpea Coconut Curry on Black Forbidden Rice a dish inspired by The New Vegan Cookbook: Innovative Vegetarian Recipes Free of Dairy, Eggs, and Cholesterol by Lorna Sass. The book is easy to follow with simple directions and colourful photos. I do not eat eggplant, so I changed the presentation by deleting the roasted eggplant and substituting black rice.

Soak chickpeas for at least 8 hours before cooking, but never soak longer than 24 hours. I typically soak them in the morning before leaving for the day.

Once hydrated, cook chickpeas for about 55 minutes on medium/high heat. To save time, you can purchase canned chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. I try not to eat food out of a can.

Some interesting information about Chickpeas: high source of protein and fiber, one cup of cooked chickpeas contains 269 calories, low-glycemic and its the primary ingredient in hummus.

Instead of roasted eggplant, I've used black forbidden rice. I would also suggested using quinoa or brown rice. If you want to stick to the original recipe, you can find it here on cookstr.com.

Black forbidden rice is high in nutritional value and contains 18 amino acids, iron, zinc, copper, carotene, and several important vitamins which I can not recall at this time, but they are very important! Forbidden black rice turns the water its cooked in a deep purple color due to its high anthocyanin content, an antioxidant. I could go on and on about the health benifits of anthocyanin - water-soluble vacuolar pigments, but I'll let you read all about it here: The Possible Health Benefits of Anthocyanin Pigments and Polyphenolics by Ronald E. Wrolstad, Ph.D. Thanks Ron!

What's really important to me: a 1/4-cup serving of forbidden rice contains 160 calories, it's gluten free, non-GMO, and I like the color.

Heat pan, add oil and add mustard seeds. Cover and cook for 30 seconds on high heat or until you hear the seeds 'pop'. Once you hear the seeds popping, turn stove off and keep covered until popping stops.